Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

It doesn't affect me because I look at the internet as the new radio. I look at the radio as gone. [...] Piracy is the new radio. That's how music gets around. [...] That's the radio. If you really want to hear it, let's make it available, let them hear it, let them hear the 95 percent of it.

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

Drugs have long been a part of Young's muse, and often the subject of his songs, particularly those he played with Crazy Horse. Marijuana was usually something he championed ("Roll Another Number"), while heroin was a darker dance, and it took away Danny Whitten, Crazy Horse's original guitar player, who Young argues was "every bit the artist that I am."

On his sobriety, Young writes, "I am now the straightest I have ever been since I was eighteen."

Young still wonders if he'll ever be able to write another song sober.

"I haven't yet," he reveals.

He knows the fact that he's stopped "smoking weed" will be a revelation to his fans, but he announces the news with the caveat "not that it matters much."

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

I still crackup when I think back when Axel sang with Neil, "Don't let them bring you down"...... IMO, Neil looks ragged, almost balding, still wears grunge. He can still kick the fuck out of about half the current guitar players. One time a show at the Rocks, it was freezing, raining, Neil had one of those old style cowboy coats, and he kicked ass and we all danced and sang with the Man.......... He's the best.......cr****

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

fuck yes! it looks like we might be getting more crazy horse shows...

Here's a nice interview with Poncho. They were playing for over 3 hours in Australia back in March...

When you guys toured last in America last year it was the same basic setlist night after night. What caused you to extend the show and break out so many rare songs when the tour his Australia?
It's funny you say the setlist is the same almost every night. When I came home from the tour, my girl picked me up and she had a new car. I said, "Let's listen to your sound system." She had Psychedelic Pill and we put on "Walk Like a Giant." I listened to it and said to her, "We don't play that song anything like that anymore."

So, they were still brand new songs. They were evolving and changing, and it was pretty interesting. Then all of a sudden, one day at rehearsal Neil said we should change up some of the older songs. We played one or two of them one night, and then all of a sudden he just played five of them in a row without stopping. He just ended one, started the other…We all looked at him like, "What the fuck are you playing man?"

We had no idea he was going to do that. We did rehearse "Prisoners of Rock & Roll," but we didn't really rehearse "Love To Burn" at all. He played it in the dressing room on a piano, and then called for it that night as the second song. That was, like, insane, especially since Neil made more mistakes on it than anybody else.

I loved seeing "Barstool Blues" in the setlist.
Oh, that was cool. We rehearsed that once at sound check. We didn't rehearse "Sedan Delivery" at all. We played it at rehearsals before the U.S. tour last summer and it was always kinda suckin'. When we played it live it was like we always played it. It was so much fun. We had a great time. "Danger Bird" was really cool. The only time we did that was sound check and Lake Tahoe.

Do you know what causes Neil to decide something like, "OK, tonight is the night for 'Barstool Blues?'"
I have no idea, but what I really felt is that on this tour we're not able to ride buses because the distances between places was too far apart. We had to fly, and that meant a lot of days off, and pretty easy going days. I think everybody was feeling too relaxed, so I thought Neil just pulled those songs out and said, "Let's shake it up. Let's see what we can do."

He also extended some of the shows by a full hour.
Tell me about it! [Laughs] What happened to "we're only going to play two hours?" [Laughs]

NEW 4-DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE SEPTEMBER 5 - 8 AT OAK RIDGE FARM IN ARRINGTON, VA, 35 MILES SOUTH OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, FURTHUR, ZAC BROWN,
THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, THE BLACK CROWES.
AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

TICKETS GO ON SALE:

General "Early-Bird" On-Sale: May 23 at 10:00 am EST

Interlocken, a 4-day music festival, with an emphasis on world class music, locally sourced food and sustainability, is confirmed to take place September 5 - 8 at Oak Ridge Farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge in Central Virginia, a mere 35 miles south of Charlottesville, and approximately 100 miles from both Washington, DC, and Richmond, VA. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Furthur, Zac Brown, The String Cheese Incident, and The Black Crowes will perform. Many of the artists will be performing at Interlocken over multiple days, and will be featured in unique and exciting artist pairings - with additional artists to be announced soon.

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

I always say I'm going to skip Bridge School, but it's just such a nice, affordable, feel good show to end the concert season with. Plus, the money goes to a good cause. So, I'll be there on Saturday for my 18th time. I never regret going.

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

Please reschedule those east coast dates

Neil Young's 2014 touring plans are beginning to come into focus. In January he will follow up his four-night stand at Carnegie Hall in New York with four Canadian shows (featuring special guest Diana Krall) to raise money for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Legal Defense Fund. In the summer, he will return to Europe with Crazy Horse to make up some of the dates they canceled last summer after guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro suffered a hand injury.

The January shows have been dubbed the "Honor the Treaties" concerts and they will aid the native Canadians in their battle against oil companies and the government to preserve their land. Tickets go on sale December 10th.

"A Legal Defense fund was set up to support the ACFN's legal challenges against oil companies and government that are obstructing their traditional lands and rights," says a press release announcing the tour. "As people of the land the ACFN have used and occupied their traditional lands in the Athabasca region for thousands of years, hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering to sustain themselves and continue spiritual cultural rights passed down through generations."

Young will perform at Carnegie Hall on January 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th. While it's unclear how the set lists will look, Young built his recent Farm Aid set around cover songs by 1960s and 1970s songwriting greats like Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Tim Hardin and Phil Ochs. "[Ochs] was one of the greatest poets that ever lived," Young said from the stage. "Last time he appeared in public was at Carnegie Hall. He wore a gold lamé suit. He was a folk singer. He was a little bit sidetracked by fame and commerciality."

Young was referring to Ochs' infamous 1974 album Gunfight at Carnegie Hall, a recording of a 1970 concert where he mixed in covers by Buddy Holly, Merle Haggard and Elvis Presley with his own compositions. A bomb threat shortened the show and many fans booed during the covers. Despite the chaos, its a legendary night and it's possible Young is planning a similar mixture of covers and originals at his Carnegie Hall shows, though his camp has been silent on the matter.

Dates are just beginning to come in for Young's European summer tour with Crazy Horse. They will play London's Hyde Park on July 12th and there are reports of a show in Ulm, Germany, on July 20th.

It's unclear whether or not they plan on making up the canceled North American dates from earlier this year.

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

This show is not to be missed!!! He focused mostly on his early 70s era materials

FYI: He played the same exact setlist for four Carnegie Hall shows. It'll probably be the same thing for you guys in case anyone wants to go see him more than once...

Carnegie Hall setlist

Set 1:
From Hank to Hendrix
Helpless (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song)
On the Way Home (Buffalo Springfield song)
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Love in Mind
Birds
Mellow My Mind
Are You Ready for the Country
Someday
Changes (Phil Ochs cover)
Harvest
Old Man

Set 2:
Goin' Back
A Man Needs a Maid
Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song)
Southern Man
Needle of Death (Bert Jansch cover)
The Needle and the Damage Done
Harvest Moon
Flying on the Ground Is Wrong (Buffalo Springfield song) After the Gold Rush
Journey Through the Past
Heart of Gold

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

Storytone has 10 brand new compositions recorded live in the studio, some with a 92-piece orchestra, choir and Young, some with a 60-piece orchestra, and three with a big band.

Storeytone will be released in two versions, one recorded solo, and the other gilded with orchestral and big-band arrangements, all recorded live with no overdubs, and Young singing in the same room as the musicians, Sinatra-style. ''It's the most different thing that I've ever attempted,'' says Young – which is really saying something for a guy who was sued by his own label in the Eighties for making ''unrepresentative'' music.

The orchestral Storeytone is the first Young album where he plays no guitar or piano – he let other musicians take on instrumental duties so he could focus on his vocals. Two music-industry vets, Michael Bearden and Chris Walden, conducted, arranged and co-produced the album. ''He took himself out of his comfort zone,'' says Bearden, who worked with Michael Jackson and is currently Lady Gaga's musical director. Young gave the arrangers considerable freedom: ''He basically told us to do what we felt,'' says Bearden. Young had originally planned to take the concept even further, recording the orchestral versions with a single microphone, but he relented on that point.

Re: Neil Young (and Crazy Horse)

Keep on rockin' in the free world, Neil!

Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans.
It's not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent.It's about sound quality. I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music.
For me, It's about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that.
When the quality is back, I'll give it another look. Never say never.
Neil Young

I was there.
AM radio kicked streaming's ass.
Analog Cassettes and 8 tracks also kicked streaming's ass,
and absolutely rocked compared to streaming.

Streaming sucks. Streaming is the worst audio in history.
If you want it, you got it. It's here to stay.
Your choice.

Copy my songs if you want to. That's free.
Your choice.

All my music, my life's work, is what I am preserving the way I want it to be.

It's already started. My music is being removed from all streaming services. It's not good enough to sell or rent.